Starshhine's 31 Day Demonfire Drabble Challenge
by Starshhine
Summary: I was inspired by KevlarMasquerade and decided to do my own Demonfire drabble challenge and here it is! Damian and Mar'i hate each other so far but there will be an eventual warm up, I promise. Enjoy! (btw Demonfire Damian Wayne/Mar'i Grayson)
1. Chapter 1

**Day 1 – Winter**

Winter is the best and worst time for me. On one hand the sky is almost always covered in clouds so I can hardly get any UV energy and have to spend a good portion of my day under sunlamps and on the other hand I hardly ever get cold. Tamaranean blood makes it hard to be cold but the cold in Gotham can cut me to the bone and it makes me feel exhilarated.

I didn't have to wear a coat but here I was, in a brand new coat my dad had insisted on buying me even though I had tried to tell him I didn't need it, and I was walking through the park. For no reason really, just to be in the cold and remember the feeling for the days where my heat makes it hard for me to feel anything else. I look around at the snow in the park. It all looks like a big blanket; like the world is asleep just under it.

Snowflakes begin to fall slowly down, which is interesting, it's almost always flurries in Gotham not this light snow. It's beautiful but I don't know what to make of it. Maybe Mister Freeze interfered because he's having a nice day? I shake the thought out of my head, laughing about a happy Mister Freeze. That's almost impossible.

The snow feels nice on my skin and especially falling on my hair but it turns to steam almost as soon as it makes contact. I pull up my scarf and arrange it on my head so it covers all of my hair, I don't need it to get steamed and frizzy, I guess. No matter how good the cold feels falling on me, I'd rather not have bigger hair than I already do. I spot some friends of mine from school and wave, stopping for a few seconds to say hi and exchange some gossip.

Those girls are nice and all but they aren't Lian. _Maybe I'll go to Star City this weekend,_ I muse to myself. A skype call would probably be fine but it doesn't match seeing your best friend in real life. As I'm thinking to myself, I run straight into someone and lose my balance for a bit until I feel strong hands pulling me up and drawing away quickly and I muster enough courage to look them in the face.

"Tt, watch where you're going, Grayson, I won't always be here to remedy your situation." I roll my eyes, in the entire park I had to run into my least favorite member of the Bat-family. Damian. Of course.

"Well, I didn't ask you to 'remedy my situation'." I roll my eyes and straighten my coat. "What are you doing in the park anyway?" I tried not to snap at him, but he makes it so hard. Being so controlled and arrogant all the time. It's annoying.

He quirks an eyebrow, which makes me want to punch him even more. "Sometimes I like walking outside, especially when Titus needs the exercise," He gestures behind him to the large black dog sitting beside a bench. And of course, there's multiple girls fawning over him. Probably under the guise of talking to Wayne Corp.'s heir, Damian. If he wasn't so insufferable, I might think he's cute, too, but he is insufferable so the very thought makes me sick.

I take a deep breath, trying not explode. Sometimes my Tamaranean heritage comes out more than I want it to and this is one of them; too many emotions in my head and I don't want any of them coming out at this moment. "Well, thank you for helping me and have a nice day in the park or whatever," he smirks at me as I begin to walk away and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes at him for a second time.

How is it possible to be so fricking annoying when my dad was the one who basically raised him? Well, only through puberty really, but still! He's so arrogant and he thinks he's better than me just because I'm half alien. And maybe it's because I almost always refuse to patrol with him and I haven't proved my worthiness or whatever. I shouldn't have to prove my worth to anyone, least of all a late arriving "uncle" or some such nonsense.

"Wait! Mar'i!" He called after me, I keep walking; I don't want to have any more interaction with him than I need to have in one day. I shove my hands in my coat pockets just as I feel his hand grab my elbow and pull away quickly. "You dropped this." He holds out a small silver object, it's my ring. It's the ring my mother gave me, I feel my eyes widen and my hands fly up to shield them from any other people in the park who could be looking at me. "It's what disguises you, correct?" I nod and snatch it back quickly so I can slide it back onto my finger. I feel at ease once I know the holographic tech is back on my body, hiding what I really look like. Not like it isn't widely known that my mom was a famous alien model back in the day, but I would just rather look generic and kind of dull than draw attention to myself. People might draw connections between my civilian identity and my vigilante identity.

"Thank you," I whisper, looking down at the ring. I might have to get it resized. No big. But it feels huge. What if someone had seen Nightstar instead of Mar'i Grayson?

"There is no need to thank me, I was merely protecting myself." And there goes what I thought could be a nice moment between the Demon Spawn and me.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll just get going now." He was already going back to Titus and the squealing girls. Maybe I'll see one of them at Thanksgiving if they were persistent enough. But Damian never brings home the girls he dates, though. I shake my head and keep walking down the path. I'll never understand Damian Wayne.


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 2 – Water**

So, today I'm going ice skating with some of the girls from school. It's supposed to be fun but I'm not the best at ice skating. Especially if I can't use my special "talents". I mean, what's the use in being able to hover and fly if I can't use it on a regular basis outside of my family and close friends? Sure, I wanted to be normal and fit in but sometimes you need a little help now and then when you stumble. I'd rather not have to do a fake fall when I trip on the sidewalk.

Anyway, I'm going ice skating. In the park. Not a rink, we're actually ice skating on the pond in the park. It's kind of cute actually. But currently I'm just sitting on my bed in pajamas and writing my English paper that's due on Tuesday. It's only about ten o'clock and we're going skating at twelve so I've got plenty of time to get ready but only a limited amount of time to write a six page paper.

I sit and type at my computer for a good amount of time, while I'm writing the sun actually comes out and slants through my window onto my thighs and keyboard. I smile at the unexpected warmth and keep writing, until I look at my clock at least. It's eleven thirty. Shit.

I scramble off of my bed and to my closet, grabbing the closest sweater and pair of jeans and yanking on the fluffiest socks I can get my hands on. I grab my tennis shoes and scarf, then on goes my holo-ring and my bag onto my shoulder.

I pass my dad as I all but run out of our apartment and he catches my shoulder. He's not really strong enough to stop me but I turn anyway and smile at him while pulling my hair away from my face.

"Uh, Mar'i, where are you going?" My brow furrowed, didn't he remember? I swear I told him a few days before.

"The pond," He gives me this quizzical look. "You know, to go ice skating with my friends from school?" I urge him on. He raises his eyebrows and looks surprised.

"When did you tell me that?" I groan and he laughs. "It's okay, starshine, I remember. I was just kidding." He gives me a side hug and walks away while sipping his coffee. I just shake my head and open the front door, only to see Damian on the other side.

"Is your father home?" Wow, not even a "hello"? Instead of snarking him like usual, I just nod and open the door wider for him to come in. "Thank you." No quips about my appearance or anything, I think something's wrong with him. Damian stood instead of sitting on the couch; even though he's spent quite a bit of time in the apartment with my dad – always when I'm gone, being nice to him in public is enough for me – he always acts like he's a new visitor and can't sit down on anything. I stop watching him and get out of there before I'm drawn into a petty disagreement like I always am around him.

I do a quick sprint down the stairs and check to make sure everything that I need is in my bag. My wallet with money for skate rentals, my phone, and some Kleenex are all in it. I check my ring just to make sure it's on securely and to be safe, I pull it off quickly and stick it on my middle finger where it will stay. I don't know how it slipped off when I saw Damian in the park just a few days ago, I'm just glad that he let me know it had come off.

The walk to the park isn't too long, I'm there in about ten minutes and I find my friends in the skate rentals line. They all greet me in unison and then laugh about it with each other. They start talking about one of the teachers at school and how he gave them way too much homework for the weekend.

"It's like he wants us to fail," Catherine says in disgust. "I can't get that much done in two days, why doesn't he spread the reading over a month instead of two weeks?" I shrug, my teacher just has us write essays and take tests on short stories. It might be because I'm a senior and they're all juniors though. "Who did you have last year, Mar'i?" Our other friend asks.

"I had Mrs. Jones last year, she was a pain but she sounds a lot better now that you're telling me about your teacher." I shake my head. Who wants to read five chapters of The Great Gatsby _then _do a journal for each during the weekend?

We finally got to the front of the line after about fifteen minutes of standing around and I grab the skates before I sit down at one of the benches to pull them on and shove my shoes into my bag while watching couples skating together on the ice. Honestly, it makes me feel melancholy, watching them all like this. The last five months are the longest I've ever gone without a boyfriend since I turned fifteen. Not that I'm a slut or anything, I've only dated a few boys for large amounts of time. The last boy I dated was Chris Kent. He's really sweet and he was a good boyfriend but he got too jealous too often and it was becoming boring being with him. I like him better as a friend and I think he likes me better that way too, he just won't admit it.

I finish lacing up and wait for Catherine to finish and pull her up when she does then we walk onto the ice and start skating around while we wait for our other friends. Out of all the girls, Catherine is the most fun to be around, she kind of reminds me of Lian which makes me miss her even more which I didn't think was possible. I haven't seen her in person since Halloween when she came to sleep over that weekend.

"You know I can't drag you around forever right?" Catherine laughs and lets me go. "You gotta learn to skate by yourself sometime,"

"But-" she's already skating away by the time I put up my hand and try to call out. I sigh, I guess it is time that I start skating on my own. People can't hold my hand forever. I skate around for a while just trying to get the hang of things and while doing that I spot someone familiar. And he has my grandpa's extremely straight nose and good jawline. Of course, he has to show up just when I'm starting to have some real fun. I do a wide turn and go in the opposite direction of him and towards my other friends who are all busy doing figure eights in the ice.

But while I'm skating away I hear someone calling after me, I turn and see a man waving me back. What's going on? I shrug and move back towards him and he starts yelling for me to stay where I am. "No! Don't move, the ice is thin where you're standing!" He's cupped his hands around his mouth in a makeshift megaphone. "Just wait there and we'll help you get to the thicker ice, okay?!" He yells to me over the heads of people who have stopped to watch.

I move my foot just a fraction to the right, just to balance myself out and suddenly I can't feel anything but the breath leaving my lungs and the cold of the water doesn't even feel like cold, it's just pressure all around me. I can't move, I can't feel, and I can't even open my eyes. I don't even realize I've been pulled out of the water until I hear people yelling around me. Someone pounds me on the back and I cough, finally taking in air. I can hold my breath for a long time but getting the wind knocked out of you isn't quite the same thing. _Oh,_ my lungs hurts and my joints are starting to ache. A nice woman pulls my feet away from the pond and I can feel her yank the skates off of my feet.

"Grayson," I can't quite open my eyes all the way to see the person in front of me but I don't need my eyes to know it's Damian. "Grayson, are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" I manage to whisper. Ugh, my mouth tastes funny, I hope I didn't swallow pond water. That would be even worse for me than just falling in. Then Damian does the weirdest thing, he takes off his jacket and situates it around my shoulders while I'm still sitting on the ice and yanks me up by the armpits to a standing position until I'm leaning against him.

He leads me to a bench while trying to hold me up, he's still stiff while his arm is holding me up and he's looking away like he doesn't want to be seen with me. I shrug it off – as much as I can shrug while I'm freezing – and keep shuffling alongside him, still in just my socks. We reach the bench and he sits me down, handling me more gently than when I'm usually hurt. "Will you be okay?" I nod and he's handed a blanket from the man who warned me about the thin ice. "Thank you, sir." The man nods at Damian and turns to me.

"I've been trying to get the city to mark off that spot on the ice for a week now, I'm sorry that you had to be the one to prove the point." He smiles at me, trying to make a joke and I try to smile back but I think it comes off as more of a grimace because of how cold I am. The man walks away and Damian trades the blanket for his jacket and promptly examines the lining.

"Hopefully you didn't ruin the inside of this," He shakes it a little bit, probably to get the rest of the water off of whatever kind of fabric is lining his jacket. I just scowl at him, I'm practically frozen and he's making sure his jacket is okay? This is ridiculous.

Just as I open my mouth, Catherine skates up to the bench with my bag; thank God, my feet are starting to freeze and I could use some footwear if I'm going to get home. "Oh my God are you okay?! I saw you skating towards all of us and then you were just gone!" She reaches towards me over the small piece of ground separating us and pulls the jacket around me. "Do you need help getting home? I can always call my dad and have him drive you home? Or do you want me to call your dad for you?" I think for a second. I don't want to bother my dad but I'd rather him know that I fell in the pond than not know and find me collapsed on the stairs up to our apartment.

I try and talk but my voice breaks a little and it comes out as a whisper again. "Can you call my dad?" She reaches into my bag for my phone but it's taken out of her hand by Damian.

"I am more than capable for calling Grayson's father, thank you for your help but it is no longer needed." I can see her tensing up and getting ready to fight back but I just shake my head at her and she backs down a bit and gives me my bag. She pets my hair quickly before saying goodbye and that she'll call me in the morning to check on me; then she skates away and joins our other friends who all wave to me. I turn back to Damian and he's holding my phone to his ear and talking to my dad who I can hear freaking out on the other end. He's never going to let me go out again. I sigh, this afternoon has had enough water to last me a while. I don't think I'm going swimming anytime soon.

So, this one got a little long! I was not expecting that at all. This chapter feels kind of like filler, I had a point when I started it but I think it got lost along the way. I've decided that this is going to be a story with a linear timeline and not just separate drabbles for each day.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 3 – Walk Away

My fists clench at my sides and I try to breathe like my Aunt Raven has taught me. In through my nose, to my stomach, and out through my mouth. It isn't working. I can't just walk away from him; he's gone way too far this time. "What?" I turn around to face him. "What did you just say about me?" He barely looks up from examining his weapons.

"Did you not hear me the first time I spoke?" I close my eyes and dig my nails into my palms. I won't punch him. I will not punch the son of my beloved grandfather. I'm not going to punch Damian Wayne. If I do, I'll get in trouble. But I've been provoked right? Right. "I said," ugh, I hate his stupid voice. "That you are not worthy of being my sparring partner for tonight, that you are incompetent, your powers make you careless in your fighting, and that you are a sloppy fighter."

"I think you're just scared to fight someone who's ten times stronger than you." As soon as I say that, I regret it because Damian turns and gives me a look like I'm something he found on the bottom of his leather boots.

"Excuse me? I've bested some of the greatest martial artists and assassins in the world and you think that I'm afraid to fight a little girl like you?" I can feel my hair start to get hotter around my head. I'm probably going to set the training room on fire if I keep this up. Just great.

"Then prove that you aren't and fight me," my voice lowers.

And I'm not a little girl. He's only like a year older than me, if that.

He eyes me carefully, like he's sizing me up. "You really want me to fight you? When you're in that?" He gestured to my ratty sweats and old sports bra that I pull up as soon as he looks me over.

"Would you rather have me change into my uniform?" I ask him sarcastically and scoff. Like I'm going to change just for him.

"I would rather you fight me in something that might not catch on fire when you get upset after you lose to me." He smirks and oh boy do I want to wipe it clean off of his face and onto the cinderblock wall that's only a few feet behind him. "And I would best you in only a few seconds with that staff you're holding." I glance at the bo staff that I have in my hand and set it back on the rack by the lockers that Gramps had installed a few months before.

"Then just fight me with your bare hands!" I'm getting angrier by the second, he's just stalling me now. His smirk only gets bigger and I have to hold back my groan, what a fucking asshole

"I doubt you would say that if you knew how many men and women these bare hands have killed." I'd still fight him even if he told me – which he isn't and I would never ask. I mean, I'd rather not know what those hands have done. Ever.

"I don't care how many people you've killed with your bare hands, you've never killed a Tamaranean, and I can guarantee it." His smirk fades quickly, I've got him now.

"Half, you are half Tamaranean. Not a full Tamaranean, so even if I did fight you, it would not count." That's it. I'm going to kill him.

"I'm still Tamaranean and I'm still going to kick your ass, so fight me!" He just shakes his head and turns to walk away. I can't control myself now and I use a burst of flight to help me flip over him and stick a landing in front of him. "Why won't you fight me? Is it because I'm a careless fighter? Because if I was – which I am most certainly not – you could take me down in a minute but you aren't. Why. Not." With that last word, I shove him. He catches my wrists and roughly backs me into the cinderblock wall.

"I am not afraid to fight you and I do not need to prove anything to you but if you insist on fighting, I will show you what I can do." He squeezes my wrists hard and I think he might try and break them to teach me a lesson but he just lets go. He drops my wrists and turns with a swish of his cape and leaves me with energy crackling in the back of my eye sockets, energy waiting to be released into eyebeams that are the same as the bolts from my hands. "But today is not the day I will show you what I can do." And he just walks away. Leaving me to my own devices.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 4 – The Soul

It's been a few weeks since Damian refused to fight me and in the time he's hardly even looked my way. He hasn't even talked my way on the one night a week the entire family gets together for dinner – minus Cass because she's still in Hong Kong and Jason most nights – and he hasn't even attempted to be civil when he has to interact with me when we run into each other on patrols or on the street. It's just annoying and a little aggravating.

So I decided that because he's been plaguing me for so long and causing me undue stress because of his annoying, smug ways, that I would go and spend some time at Titans Tower with my other family. My mom was there right now instead of off planet counseling her sister Kommand'r and my Uncle Vic and Aunt Raven were there as well. I decided that it was about time I visited Raven for some more counseling on the state of my soul.

The last time she had, I had come back to Gotham refreshed and ready to kick some criminal derriere. And by "counseling" I mean she has me meditate and hang out in my mom's Tamaranean garden by the waterfall. It's pretty great _and _it's only for a weekend so I don't have to take any time off of school when finals are coming up next week. Ugh, at least winter break is right after them.

I hear a soft tap on my doorjamb while I'm thinking and folding some clothes to take on my weekend trip. "Hey there, Starshine, are you almost done?" I turn to my dad who has a bowl of cereal in his hand and is still in his pajama bottoms.

"I don't know, are you?" He laughs at my remark and shakes his head.

"You know that I'm not going with you," I nod and finish stuffing the clothing I've folded and rolled up into the pack along with my phone and ipod. "Just say hi to your mom for me, okay?" I just roll my eyes and shoo him out of the room so I can be alone for just a bit before I leave for a weekend full of stimulation.

"I promise to say hi to her if you promise to get out of my room and stop checking on me every five minutes?" He throws up the hand not holding his bowl of lucky charms and steps back into the hallway and makes his way to the living room where I hear him fire up the TV.

He always makes me say hi to my mom for him, like he doesn't text her ever second she's on Earth and make interplanetary Skype dates while she's on Tamaran. Their situation is weird and I don't want to talk about it right now. Maybe later on I will, but right now I want to focus on my stress levels and bringing them down to balance out all of my soul stuff.

I finish packing and pull my backpack onto my shoulders then walk out to the living room where my dad is watching TV. "So, should I change into my uniform and take off from the manor or what?" He pauses whatever he's watching and turns to me, setting his bowl down on the coffee table.

"I thought you were just going to let Damian drop you off in the Bat-jet?" I hold back a shudder at the demon's name.

"Dad, I told you that I just wanted to fly and that I didn't want Damian to take me anywhere. Like, ever." I stress the last few words so he'll get it. Chances are, no matter how much I tell him I don't like Damian, I'll still be forced to try and be friends.

"I don't really feel comfortable with you flying that far without your mom with you, just let Damian fly you there and when you get back I'll take you down to your favorite ice cream place. Deal?" He was bribing me. I can't take the bribe. I shouldn't take the bribe. But I feel myself nodding in agreement because I really want that ice cream. I wish he didn't know my weaknesses so well. "I'll put some real pants on and drive you over to Grandpa's, so just wait there and do not – I _repeat _– _do not_ go outside and take off from the park or something, are we clear?" I nod and roll my eyes, if I did that he would call my mom and I wouldn't be allowed to go out and run any missions with the team anytime in the near future. Which is really what I wanted to do because they had only just been revived.

"Yes, Dad, I understand you. Are you going to put on real clothes now?" He pats my head and goes for his bedroom. I can already tell that this is going to be a long day.

Nothing too exciting happens during the day because Damian just doesn't feel like talking on the way to San Francisco. He doesn't usually talk to me anyway but this silence makes me feel like I did something wrong. I wouldn't be sorry even if I had really done something wrong and I don't feel sorry for whatever he thinks I did now but it still feels odd. Especially when it's just us like it is right now.

"We are almost there, the tower is only a half hour away." I straighten up in the co-pilot seat – co-pilot seat, my ass, I'm not allowed to help fly it – and look out the window to the clouds below, trying to glimpse the ground below us. We've probably on been in California for about ten minutes and I want to see the desert before it passes us by but I can't see anything through the clouds, so I just sigh and sit back in my seat. "Is this speed not satisfactory?" His words have a slight bite to the edge and I just roll my eyes.

"This speed is more than satisfactory, I just wanted to look down at the ground and we've been in this jet for a while now. And all I did was sigh, don't be so dramatic." I try to burrow my way into the leather seat with no luck and I'm stuck just pulling my knees to my chest and trying to be comfortable like that. Damian just clenches his jaw and keeps staring forward. This is the most awkward ride in the Bat-jet that I have ever had.

The next thing I know, I'm being shaken awake by someone, and I lift my arms up into a stretch. "She's awake," I see my mom smiling at me with the sun behind her. She's so beautiful. "Hello, Starshine, it is good to finally see you again?" I smile and she grabs my forearms to help me stand up and hop out of the jet. We embrace, my arms are around her shoulders and hers around my torso, keeping me from the ground. It's been so long since we've physically seen each other that it's hard for me to let go but I get to spend the weekend here and part of my longer break so I can't complain. She sets me down and turns to Damian who has set my bag down on the concrete of the top of the tower.

"Thank you, Damian, it was very considerate of you to escort Mar'i here." He nods and says that there is no need to thank him. "And I would like to let you know that the invitation to the newly revived Teen Titans still stands and will always be open to you." He nods again, listening to her words, but I knew a polite rejection was on its way. It always was.

"Thank you, Princess Koriand'r, I will get back to you when the occupation of 'leader' opens up." She smiles and her eyes have humor in them.

"Of course, thank you again, Damian, for escorting my daughter safely to me." He bows slightly, just a gesture to a foreign princess, and climbs back into the jet without even a glance to me. His indifference is just getting tiresome now. My mother grabs my bag and pulls me by my wrist to the door leading to stairs that will take us into the actual tower. I feel a whoosh of air and hear the quietest sound possible and the jet is back in the air and back on its way to Gotham.

My mom catches my attention again. "Are you ready to train with Raven?" I nod and she pulls me into the tower. I'm ready for anything that will take my mind off of Damian, the training room incident, and my ice escapade. Bring on the mediation.

**I don't know what it is, but this chapter feels a little unfinished somehow. Oh well, I'm sure tomorrow's will feel much better. Feel free to tell me your thoughts because I relish them. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Day 5 – The Muse**

Words: 604

Today was the day for mediation – or so Raven told me it was. I've spent the morning sitting in my mom's garden trying to reach my inner self. It's a nice change, not being interrupted by anyone, no sudden missions, and there's not a lot of other kids around today. Because the Titans have just been revived, there's not a lot of team members yet, and Vic is really just training the few kids joined the new Titans to be a team and help each other out.

It's kind of interesting to watch them because they're all a year or so younger than me and there's only three of them – it's Wally's twins and Raven and Garfield's daughter – and they always argue. Vic's got his work cut out for him, maybe once other people join they'll get better, but for now he's stuck with a group of sixteen year olds who can't work together.

Maybe once they moved to New York I would join up but until then I wouldn't bother coming here from the East Coast every weekend. I know Tim did it and that's great but I am not Tim and I have even more obligations than he had, surprisingly.

So, meditating, I'm supposed to be meditating. But instead I'm sitting here thinking about the Teen Titans. Should I clear my mind? I probably should, that's the only way to reach my soul self or so I've been told. All I'm doing is sitting in a garden musing about a team that isn't really a team yet. I stretch out my legs instead of keeping them in a lotus position and lay back, staring at the sky above me. It's nice and sunny out with some fluffy, white clouds floating by. It's pretty beautiful. Way more beautiful than Gotham but I'd never say that to Gramps. He tries hard enough to keep it safe, I can't stress him out more by telling him that his city is ugly.

I'm done meditating, I think I'll just sleep on this nice soft ground. Ah, yes. Sleeping. On the grass. With all the bugs. Shit. My eyes fly open and I realize that sleeping on the ground probably isn't the best idea with a bunch of bugs crawling around even if it's winter and there aren't that many, they're still around and could still crawl all over me. No thank you.

I get up and begin to take a walk around the garden. There's a variety of plants and my mom planted all of them herself years ago. I wonder what will happen to them when they move the Titans to New York unless they decide to do a Titans East and West like when my parents were Titans. It'd be interesting and it would give more young heroes an outlet for everything they can't do around their mentors and parents. I know Tim really enjoyed being able to be himself out from under Gramps' wing.

I really hope this team comes together and is returned to its former glory. There's not a lot that would make me – or my parents – happier. I've been musing for too long, I should really be meditating, but how do I do it? I sigh and climb up one of the rocky outcrops jutting up from the ground and sit right in a patch of sunlight and close my eyes, soaking up the sun, and meditate. It feels good. It's a little easier this time, now that I've thought most everything out. There's just one thing that I haven't thought of – Damian. And it's going to stay that way.

**I had no idea what to do for The Muse because it just sounded kind of like a dumb prompt idea so I just had her think about whatever so this one feels more like a stream of consciousness exercise.**


	6. Chapter 6

Day 6 – The Body

Word Count: 1912

I roll over in my bed and oh god I'm sore everywhere. Maybe I can convince my dad that I can't go to school today but I've lived through much worse. I've had shallow stab wounds that I still went to school with and I have a test today besides. I wish my mom hadn't made me do all those drills._ Ugh_, why am I so sore? It's not like I haven't done those drills before. I feel something coming up my throat and I scramble out of my bed and into the bathroom – thank X'hal that Dad let me have my own bathroom – and I throw up all of the Tamaranean stew my mom made especially for me last night.

"Mar'i? Is everything okay?" I can hear my dad padding down the hallway and shut the door quickly, I don't want him to see me like this with small chunks of vomit in my hair and on the corner of my mouth. "Mar'i?" He taps on the bathroom door softly. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm alright, I'll be out in a little bi-" and I throw up again in the middle of my sentence. Great. I wipe of my mouth with the back of my hand and stick both of them under the bathroom sink. I can feel my dad still standing on the other side of the door, he isn't going to go away any time soon and just as I think that he twists the door knob and opens it just a crack.

"Sweets, I think you need to stay home today, okay?" I shake my head frantically, I need to take that test! All of the not-wanting flies out of my head, I was just joking about the school thing! Come on X'hal! Help me!

"No, Daddy, it's fine I can go to school! I'll just drink Gatorade the entire day or Pedialite or something! I have a test today!" I try to get out that last bit quickly but I'm not sure if he understood me because I have to bend over and throw up again and like the nice daddy he is, he pulls my hair back – all of it – and grabs one of my stretchy headbands to tie all of the hair into a bun.

When I'm done, he rubs my back and tells me to sit down on my little rug next to the shower. I don't even nod, I just sit down and lean my head against the shower door. He's back in a few minutes with a bucket for me to vomit in and some cleaning supplies that he cleans up the stray throw up with and then sprays everything – sans me, of course – with Lysol. My light switches, the toilet, the fixtures in the shower and over the sink, my dresser drawer knobs, and the rails on my bed. Everything gets sprayed. There is nothing left out of his mass germ genocide.

When he's finally done, he gathers up all of the cleaning supplies, and promises me he'll be back really quick with some water for me but that he'll run to the store and get juice or Pedialite. Just something to keep me better hydrated than even water can.

He's back as quickly as he said he would be and hands me a bottle of water. "Okay, so let's see what your temperature is," He puts his hand on my head and pulls back like he's touched a hot pan. "Okay, you're probably going to burn through that glass if we don't give you some medicine." He runs out quickly and comes back wearing oven mitts, I would laugh if I didn't feel so shitty so I settle for a smile at him when he grabs my shoulders with the oven mitts to help me up and into the kitchen where the medicine is. Hopefully I keep that down, I'd rather no run so hot that I'll burn everything on contact.

"Okay, take this," Dad hands me a small cup of liquid medicine that will hopefully bring down my body temperature and regulate it. "And I'll call the school, okay? Okay." He dials quickly while I make myself comfortable on the couch. "Yeah, this is Mar'i Grayson's father," He turns his head to look at me over his shoulder and mouths "what's your ID number" at me. "Okay, yes her ID number is 116533 and she's come down with the stomach flu. Why would my daughter be faking?!" his voice starts to rise. "Fine, then would you like to come to our apartment and hold her hair back? No? I didn't think so, yes you have a good day too, Gladys." He hangs up and shakes his head.

"Gladys giving you a hard time?" He just nods and pats me on the head with the oven mitt still on.

"I think she just remembers all the times you were sick your freshman year." I nod and think back. That was the year that we thought my body was going to shut down on itself. I was just too sick too often and Bruce made me go to Mercy West to get checked out. It turns out that my Tamaranean DNA was acting up and there's a huge definition that they told me and I don't remember what it is. It was horrible, though, I guess that's what being a cross breed gets me but since then I've been fine.

"Yeah, that would make anyone at least a little suspicious," He nods and shoves his feet into the slip-ons he keeps by the door and grabs his keys off of the little entrance way table.

"Okay, I'm going to get you some Pedialite and then afterwards I'm going to work, okay?" I nod and he jaunts out the door and locks it quickly before I hear him practically jump the stairs. He's probably running to the corner store.

He's back in just a few minutes because we don't live far from the small drug store and pours me a small glass of the stuff before running to take a quick shower and get into his uniform.

"Okay, since I agreed to take a longer shift today, Damian is going to come over and check on you." He grabs his keys again and sits down at the table to put his tennis shoes on and I groan. "He's family and you guys will get along eventually, I promise, he just needs to warm up to you." He grabs the oven mitt again and puts it on my forehead before he kisses it. He coaxes a smile out of me even though he mentioned the Demons just moments earlier. "He won't be here for long, okay? It'll just be quick and he'll give you crackers then be gone." I nod and he risks a hand squeeze before he has to pull away and run out the door for the second time this morning.

The morning passes by pretty quick, which wasn't what I expected this morning. I try to sleep on the couch between vomiting up Pediatlite – so it tastes the same coming up as going down, which is something I learned this morning – and I watch some cartoons. Which is the only thing on right now. Then _he _walks in the door. He looks at me and lets out that stupid noise he always makes. "How did you get yourself this sick?" I just roll my eyes and turn away from him on the couch. "I have to check if your temperature has gone down just turn towards me and then I'll give you crackers and be gone." I hold in a groan and roll back over so he can check my temperature. But instead of using a thermometer he uses his hand – a bad idea if I ever saw one – and hisses when he touches me. "Did your father tell you what exact temperature you were this morning?" I shake my head and he rolls his eyes. "Figures, Grayson would make me take care of his alien daughter but not know how to take care of her himself."

"Fuck you, I was born on Earth and I'm only half alien, so shut up or I'll hug you." He just rolls his eyes and gets up to go to the kitchen.

"Do not use profanity in my direction, Alien," Ugh, why couldn't dad have gotten Tim to come over? Or at least had Alfred come pick me up so I could be taken care of by him at the manor? He had to call Damian and get him to take care of me. "Why is there so much medication in your cabinet? Is this all left over from your various hospital visits?" I nod and he moves them all to the side and grabs the stuff that's supposed to bring down my fever, then pours it into a cup without checking what dosage it is. It figures that my dad got the most incompetent person in medicine to take care of me. I sigh and take the medicine from him and inspect the dosage before downing it. It was a perfect two tablespoons, not a hair over or under, so maybe he is more competent than I give him credit for. "So why did my dad call you instead of any other person in our family?" He shrugged.

"The fat-girl is in class currently, both of your idiot uncles are away on business – I would rather not know what kind, Barbara is working, Alfred is helping Father with something, and Cassandra is still in Hong Kong. I was the only one left." I nod and fall back into my pillow. Once Steph gets out of class, she'll probably come check on me. She takes really good care of me when I get sick, I must be really good practice for all of her nursing stuff. "Would you like to eat something now?" He won't look at me when he speaks but I nod anyway and hope he saw it. "Pennyworth sent broth with me in the event that you wanted to have something more substantial." He takes out a glass Tupperware container of broth and pulls out the saltines from one of our cabinets and puts some on a small plate while he heats up the broth in the microwave.

When He pulls it out, he pours just a little bit into a mug and hands both that and the plate to me. "Here is your lunch," the corner of his mouth quirks up slightly. "Even if it is a poor one. You do have my cell phone number, correct?" I nod. "Call me if you need me to help you," Oh, he's being nice. "Grayson would kill me if he found his daughter dead." And the nice moment is gone. He heads towards the door and stops just as he's opening it. "And, Mar'i? I am sorry if I scared you when I pushed you against the wall." He doesn't turn towards me, just looks down at the floor to the side of him. "I just wanted to prove a point. And do not get any sicker because I do not want to take anymore care of you."

X'hal, he's so frustrating. It's like he flip-flops between being nice and being distant. But at least he gave me an apology, even if I am the one who probably owes one.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 7 – Summer

I look up and there's the bluest sky I have ever seen in my life staring back at me. It's almost turquoise and I can feel the heat of the sun on my stomach. Oh, it is glorious. Well, it's glorious until I have to hit the alarm clock on the side of my bed and realize that it's Friday and I should have turned off the alarm because I don't have to go to school today. I turn over and huddle down in my blankets, missing the warmth of my dream.

Most of the time I don't need the two blankets I've piled on top of my comforter but it's about five degrees out and snowing in Gotham. I'm just wondering why Dad didn't turn on the heater, just because I generate enough heat to power a small apartment doesn't mean I don't get cold and I know for a fact he's freezing all the time in winter, so what gives?

I groan and throw off my blanket and swing my legs over to the side of the bed where my sock feet land on the hardwood floor – super cold by the way – and I look around for my slippers, those are nowhere to be seen, so I just get up and walk to the kitchen where my dad isn't. That's weird, he's always in the kitchen in the morning. I shrug and walk back to his bedroom where he could be sleeping in and I find nothing and realize that he probably didn't come home from patrolling last night. He's done it in the past but he's usually told someone to call me and make sure I'm fine but this time there's nothing.

I check my phone to see if anyone has called me and there's nothing which normally isn't too weird but right now it's a little odd that not one member of my family has called. What's going on? So, I decide to call Damian – I know, why would I call Damian ever? It's important so I have to call him – and he picks up midway through the second ring.

"Hello," he says it so sharply, not even groggy. "What do you need, Grayson?" Wow, not even a good morning or my first name?

"Uh," he's going to shoot me if this isn't as important as I think it is, I just know it. "I was wondering if you knew where my dad is? He hasn't come home yet and I'm a little worried." I can hear him shuffling around and ask Gramps if he knows where my dad is.

"He's at Firewall cleaning up and changing into his civilian attire, it was a long night, apparently." I nod and instantly realize that he can't hear me.

"Thank you, Damian," I clear my throat a little bit to try and dissipate the tension I can feel through the phone and I end up squeaking out a goodbye and almost hanging up before he stops me with a word.

"There is no need to thank me for this, it's what _family_" I can hear the slight strain in his voice when he says the word "family". "Does for each other. Have a good morning." And he hangs up without another word. Such an odd boy. Or man? He's only 19 but he's never exactly been a boy. I shrug and set my phone down on the table and turn on some cartoons while I wait for my dad.

He doesn't get too long getting home from Firewall but it's still longer than usual and it kind of upsets me. Well, more than kind of if we're being really honest here. When he does this, he usually has a good reason for being out as late as he was, but I can tell the minute he steps through the door that he has no reason for being out that long.

"So, where did you go last night?" He doesn't even pause while taking his scarf off to look at me.

"I went patrolling, I just thought it would be better if I didn't tell you about it." He shrugs and kicks off his boots and slips out of his coat. All I can do is roll my eyes at him, once Dick Grayson's mouth is closed, that's the end of it. And he's supposed to be the chatty one in the family.

"Does this have anything to do with mom going back to Tamaran on Christmas instead of coming here?" He lifts his eyebrows at me.

"How did you know about that?" I shrug, my mom had told me that she was going home instead of coming to Gotham. Something about how she was needed on Tamaran and that it's of great importance that she go, she promised me a little Mother-Daughter time before she left though. It's clear that she probably didn't offer Dad any time with her which is probably why he stayed out so late.

"Mom told me and I heard you talking to Tim about it." He doesn't even have a response to that and turns to the cabinet where we keep all our mugs to get down some hot chocolate mix and a mug for the both of us. He does it quickly and sets mine down on the coffee table in front of me, then he drops in two big marshmallows.

"Okay, kiddo, what exactly did your mom say to you about her trip?" I shrug, she was a little vague and it's a little hard to remember because I wasn't quite paying attention.

"She said something along the lines of 'My Starshine, I am sorry but I must return to Tamaran.' And that's all I remember." I pick up my mug of hot chocolate and sip on it while my dad slurps on his, trying to get all of the little marshmallows into his mouth. I shake my head and pluck one of the big ones out of mine and eat it.

"Well, that's basically what she said to me, too. She told me that your aunt needs help speaking to another of the royal families and that she would probably be gone for quite a few months because of the time differences between our star systems." I nod and keep sipping.

"She'll be back for spring, though, right? Or summer, at least?" My birthday is in spring. I don't want her to miss my eighteenth because she's already missed so many of my important milestones. I won't mention any of it to her, I know she already feels guilty enough for missing my middle school promotion a few years ago and all the academic award ceremonies I've been in on top of missing when I first developed my ability to shoot starbolts. My childhood and adolescence has been harder on her than it has on me, it seems.

"She isn't sure, I asked her if she would be here for your eighteenth but she doesn't quite know how long she'll be with your aunt. I'm sorry, Starshine." He says it softly and strokes my hair. My mom probably isn't going to be home for my birthday. I'll just try not to cry.


	8. Chapter 8

Day 8 – Spring

Word Count: 1191

So, my birthday is about six months away but my family has already been asking about what I want to do for it. It's December. They should just leave that subject alone until a month before May and then start bugging me about it. It isn't even Christmas yet for X'hal's sake!

It's two weeks 'til the big day of gift giving and nowhere near spring. Anyway, I've gotten gifts for everyone – some homemade, some not – and I'm pretty happy with it. I've already shipped Cass' gift because she couldn't home with us this year and I even got something for Damian. Not coal, I promise, I got him a book of Arabic poetry. I saw it and it seemed perfect, even if the recipient is way less than perfect and won't acknowledge me half the time I'm around him.

I got my dad some Batman slippers – I have no idea how people get away with merchandising this stuff seriously – and a mug with the Bat symbol on it, even though he has three already. Each with a different symbol of course. I got Aunt Babs a new Gotham University sweatshirt and I painted the oracle symbol onto a mug for her. I wasn't quite sure what to get Uncle Jay but I know it shouldn't be any weaponry, because someone would have a fit, so I settled for giving him a framed picture that was taken of us a few years ago. I got Tim a watch I saw that reminded me of him, it's pretty simple, but he can keep it on in the water and dive for about one hundred meters with it on. It might hold up better than his last few. For Steph, I got a little stuff bear with a little syringe on its t-shirt and a little stethoscope because she's currently a nurse. I already gave Gramps his present because I couldn't wait, it was a painted portrait of the entire family that I did in my art class. He loved it.

I just hope that everyone else loves what they're getting, it would suck to be stuck with something you don't like because your family gave it to you. That's happened to me a few times. Mostly with stuff my mom gave me, I mean it's really cool to have stuff from Tamaran but sometimes it's a little overwhelming.

I have a small pot with a Tamaranean flower that's more beautiful than Central Park in spring time that's really cool but I also have a giant sword that I have no idea what to do with. It's too big for me to wield and it's awkward to carry around, I can channel my starbolts through it but that's the end of its usefulness. There's a few other things like that but I love most of the stuff she gives me. She'll probably bring back something from Tamaran for my birthday. Maybe my aunt will send something along too, even though we haven't seen each other in years.

Mine and my mother's relationship with my aunt is a weird one. Kommand'r had a very long rough patch but when she became Queen she changed. She was still a little bitter and angry but she was – and still is – a good leader to our people. She's not very fond of my dad or the other Titans and her relationship with my mom is kind of fragile but good for the most part. They're just very careful with each other and what they say, it's gotten better over time. Our relationship is a little more formal; a little more ambiguous. Kommand'r likes me but she's never gotten close enough where she would have to be in the position to really get to know me. She doesn't come to Earth very often – okay, never – and because of that there hasn't been any girl's days with her like there has been with my Aunt Babs. She's just kind of aloof from me. Whenever I visit Tamaran we give the traditional familial Tamaranean greeting to each other, we spend the obligated amount of time with one another, and from time to time she'll spar with me which gives me more knowledge on who she is than she knows I know.

It's just a little weird not knowing where I stand with another Tamaranean. I have no idea what I'm going to give her for Christmas or if I should even give her one because Christmas is only celebrated on Earth, really. I haven't met anyone who's embraced Christianity on planets in the Vegan star system. That doesn't mean they don't exist but I don't think that Christianity has made it there yet.

If I did get her a gift what would I even get her? Something violent? Something that may increase her chances of liking me? And if I could do that, what exactly would that gift be? I should just call my mom.

At least Damian's present was sort of easy and I know where I stand with him for the most part. He kind of hates me for being an "interloper". Yes, he actually called me that. In my home city, where I was indeed born. He said that to me in front of our family when I was nine and he'd only been with us for a few months. Damian thinks that because Gramps kind of doted on me that I'm some sort of competition for his affections. This was shortly after he tried to kill Tim for the first time and only a little while before he kicked the crap out of Uncle Jay. He's gotten better since then, he's been here for almost ten years, so my dad and Gramps have rubbed off on him a little. Not enough to make him into a decent human being but maybe another decade will change that.

Hoo boy, my family is tiring. I get up from my bed where I've been musing about presents and random stuff for about an hour and stretch out my arms until my muscles are protesting. It feels so good, it hurts a little but that's just natural.

I get out some of the wrapping supplies that I got the other day and sit down with some of the presents, then I realize that the door isn't shut and I'd rather Dad not blab about everyone's presents to them, and I don't want him knowing about his. Or Damian's, he would never stop teasing me about the Boy Demon's present. He'd tell me that it'll give everyone the wrong idea because it's too thoughtful. But that's just how I am. If I'm going to give him a present I'm going to think about it, like I said earlier, I know how it is to be stuck with something that sucks.

I sit down in the lotus position and start cutting wrapping paper for the boxes and I stick a bow on top of the first one. It's relaxing. I stay on auto pilot the entire time I'm cutting and taping everything. It's nice not to really think about anything for once.


	9. Chapter 9

Day 9 – Snowflakes

Word Count: 1064

The snow starts falling as soon as I get up in the morning, like the sky was waiting so it could say hello to me. X'hal, I'm a cheeseball. I guess that's what happens when I live with Dick Grayson almost full time.

I just really love snow, even though it melts as soon as I touch it. The snowflakes are pretty and the snow itself is just a really cool concept to me.

I pull on some socks and pad into the kitchen where my dad is actually waiting for me instead of out on an angry patrol, again. He's stayed out about three nights this week on angry patrols by himself; he wouldn't even let anyone come with him. I suspect that he was working out some issues that none of us should see.

"Morning, Mar'i," he turns towards the stove and nudges the eggs in the pan with the spatula he grabbed off of the counter. "Is your mom coming to get you for your mother-daughter day? I didn't really ask her how it was going to work." He shrugged.

"Um, I don't really know either, she said she would call me." I plop down in one of the chairs at the bar and lean my head down on my arm. "She'll probably call around ten so we can go shopping and eat then she'll probably give me modeling advice and explain what's going on." Dad nods.

"So, until then is it pants-less Saturday?" I just shrug and bury my face in the crook of my elbow. "Well, do you want any eggs? Maybe they'll make you less grumpy," I am not grumpy! I sit up straight and look him in the eye.

"I never said I was grumpy," He rolls his eyes and takes the pan off of the heat and splits the eggs between two plates. "I'm not grumpy." My dad shrugs and hands me a plate and some ketchup.

"Whatever you say, Miss Grumpy No-Pants," All I can do is pout and pour some ketchup over my eggs while he situates himself next to me. "Maybe you should just call your mom instead of waiting around, you know," He shoves some egg into his mouth and talks around it. "Be proactive in your relationships with others." I roll my eyes.

"Have you been talking to Tim again? Or did you visit Harley Quinn in prison?" I stick my tongue out and he shoves more eggs into his mouth to avoid the question and just glares at me.

"Eat your eggs," He shoves my arm jokingly and grabs the ketchup to squirt onto hiss eggs. "And call your mom after you're done," He looks at me pointedly and I try to eat quickly. If I don't call my mom within the next ten minutes I'll probably get in trouble. I get that he wants me to have a good relationship with my mom but he's a little overbearing sometimes.

As soon as I'm done with my breakfast I grab my phone and call my mom who answers pretty quick, maybe she's already in Gotham. "Hey, Mom,"

"Hello, Mar'i," She pauses. "Do you need anything?" I frown a bit, did she forget?

"Well, I was just calling to see what time you wanted to pick me up or if you wanted to meet somewhere instead?" She doesn't hesitate with her answer which is nice.

"I'm already in Gotham, I wanted to surprise you but I guess I should have told your father that instead of trying to do it by myself." I shrug and set my plate in the sink. "I can come get you now if you want to get dressed quickly."

"That would be great, Mom," we say goodbye and I smile at the phone, she didn't forget, we'll have our time together after all. I wash my plate and fork then head back to my room. What could I wear? The jacket that Dad got me with some jeans and a scarf would be a good combo. Maybe some boots? I can always wear a t-shirt under the jacket, I mean, it's not like I'll really be taking it off if we're going to be walking around the city all day.

Once I have all of my clothes on, I slip my holo-ring over my finger and grab my phone right as I hear the door open up and my dad greets the person on the other side. The other person says hello warmly and that's when I know that it's my mom. Besides the fact that our apartment warmed up about five degrees.

"Mar'i!" My dad calls down the hall. "Your mom is here, are you ready yet?" I rush into the hallway and run towards the entry way, almost tackling my mom when I hug her. She's a little surprised but she recovers and wraps her warm arms around me. My dad rolls his eyes and puts his arms around both of us.

"Both of my girls, here together," I can feel my mom smile into my hair and lean into my dad. My throat is starting to get a little constricted and I can feel the pin pricks at the back of my eyes warning me that Niagara Falls is coming. We all pull away from each other a little too soon but at least I'm not going to cry anymore. That would rip my parents to pieces and I can't bear that happening again. "So, are you guys just going to wander around the town?"

"I have a plan, Richard, the wife of Nightwing never goes anywhere without a plan." They smile at each other and it's so bittersweet that for a second I'm afraid that I'll start crying. It's so hard to watch them when they're like this. She reaches up to his face and tucks a stray piece of hair behind his ear and he turns his head to kiss her palm as it's slowly leaving his face. I have to look away and I clear my throat a bit. Parents. _So _embarrassing.

I let them say their goodbyes and my mom slips her hand into mine as we walk outside. The snowflakes are still drifting down slowly and get caught in my hair and one melts on Mom's nose. We both giggle. This is going to be a great day.


	10. Chapter 10

Day 10 – Silhouettes

Word Count: 1551

When I woke up the next morning after spending the day with my mom, I felt a little empty. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her. We had gone shopping and eaten and talked, then later on we had dinner with my dad and she actually stayed here with us for the night. Well, part of the night, my parents had gone somewhere "private". I shudder just thinking about it.

Anyway, they had their own alone time to work out their issues and do whatever it is I don't want to think about. I was just going to hang out and call Lian but she was busy with a project and because my dad couldn't bear for his seventeen year old daughter – he forgets that I'm not a baby anymore that doesn't have to be watched every second – to be alone, he called Damian.

Yes, he called The Demon Child. Actually, I should stop calling him that because I do know some people who are the spawn of demons and they're nice. Have you met Raven? She's amazing, you know, aside from the few times she almost killed everyone.

Anyway, he called Damian and asked him to come 'keep me company'. Company. I don't think Damian Wayne knows the meaning of the word because if he did maybe he wouldn't be so freaking annoying all the time. To me, at least. You know what, I'll give you a recap of the situation, let's just rewind to last night.

My parents are getting ready to leave and I call Lian but she's busy. I hate when projects eat up her time like this, it's winter break for X'hal's sake!

I groan and lean back into the couch then grab the book I picked up at the library and start reading. It's interesting, Lian actually recommended it and I don't know why I haven't picked it up before now. It's about a boy who's raising a dragon who hatched from an egg he found. I think there was a movie a few years ago but I can't quite remember.

"See you later, Mar'i," I look up to the door way where my dad's waving at me and my mom is right behind him. "I called Damian, he's going to be over soon to keep you company." I try not to groan.

"We'll be back in a few hours, Starshine," Mom waves and my dad opens the door for her. They're both dressed pretty nice but we've already had dinner so they might be going dancing. I wave and watch them go, it's nice to see them together.

I go back to my book and the next thing I know there's a knock at the door that jolts me out of my thoughts. "Grayson, I know you're here." Ugh, it's Damian. "It would be of the utmost convenience if you opened the door." He knocks again just as I open it and gives me a disgruntled look before he slips into the apartment. "I was told that you needed some company?" He quirks an eyebrow at me.

"Dad thinks I need some company but that's because he thinks I'm still a child. You can leave, I'll tell him that you stayed here for a while but you left before they got home because it was getting late." He stays where he is and just raises his eyebrow even higher.

"Legally you are still a child and if Dick entrusted me with your keeping, I won't let him down." He smirks at me, knowing that he's winning. All I can do is glower at him and hope that he'll stay quiet most of the night.

"Fine, if you're going to stay, would you like some hot chocolate?" He shrugs and sinks down into our couch.

"No thank you, I hear that you take after your father in the cooking department." I roll my eyes and get a mug down for myself. Damian's just being petty now and I'm not going to let him drive me nuts. Or at least I won't let him see me get driven nuts by him.

"My dad isn't a bad cook, you're just a picky eater." He shrugs and looks towards the paperback I abandoned on the couch.

"You're reading _Eragon?_" He just had to pick up the book, didn't he? I pour the chocolate mix into my cup and put my small kettle on one of the burners. "The movie was reprehensible why would you go so far as to read the book it originated from?"

"You watched the movie?" I'm more interested in the fact that Damian has watched an actual movie than him trashing what I'm reading currently. "Since when do you watch movies?" I lean against the counter and watch him.

"-tt- I have always enjoyed film but father thought going to see a movie would be a good bonding activity. He was right but we only bonded over how horrible the movie was." He drops the book back onto the couch and I roll my eyes. Such an odd man. Boy? Man. No. I'm still not sure what to call him.

"Well, the book is pretty good so I really don't care what your opinion of the movie is." He just shrugs and sits back while I pour the water into my cup and add some milk. "So, do you want to watch something or should I entertain you?"

"It is unlikely that you could entertain me," He pauses. "But do you by any chance have a Disney movie on DVD? Stephanie told me I should watch one and if I don't, I will be forced to watch it with her and Tim." I set my hot chocolate down on the coffee table and shake my head.

"I doubt they could force you to do anything, Mister Assassin, but I do have quite a few Disney DVDs in the entertainment cabinet if you want to look." He looks around the living room briefly and gets up to look in the cabinet. "You might like Atlantis, it's probably in the back of the cabinet." I sip my hot chocolate and watch him shuffle through all of our movies just to find a Disney movie.

He stops looking through the cabinet and looks out the window for a moment. "Get down."

"I-what?" He quickly makes his way over to me and takes my hot chocolate while pushing me down onto the floor. "What are you doing?!" He puts the mug down on the coffee table softly and puts his hand over my mouth and just to be a jerk, I lick it and he pulls his hand away like I burned it. Which I probably did but oh well, that's kind of his fault.

"Be quiet," He hisses at me and pushes me down as I try to get up. "I saw a shadow outside of your window, it could be an intruder of some sort, or someone could have figured out yours or your father's secret identities." I roll my eyes at him, his knee is shoved between my legs, one arm is wrapped around me, and the other is trying to keep my head down. This position is way more compromising than I would like and it's really uncomfortable because instead of there being a sort of hot guy on top of me, it's just Damian.

Well, he is kind of hot. Especially in this lighting. The moonlight is glancing off of his cheekbones and his eyes look even bluer than usual – I need to stop. I'm not attracted to him, I'm just easily turned on, and the boy does have a knee almost in my lady parts.

"Get off," I finally shove him off of me. "It's probably nothing," I peek out the window and look over at the balcony juts off of my dad's room but there's nothing there. It isn't until I hear a small mewling sound that I look down at the fire escape and see that there's a small cat. My shoulders slump in relief and I smile then pick it up, cradling it. I shut the window and hold it up to show Damian. "See, it's just a little kitty, nothing to be worried about, you dork." He just rolls his eyes and straightens his clothes after getting up.

I cradle the cat and coo while I pet it and it nuzzles my neck. Damian looks at it like it's from the seventh dimension, though, and crosses his arms. "What? You can't take a little kitty cat?"

"Of course I can but it looks like it's a stray, what if it has diseases?" He leers at the poor thing and I pull away from him.

"That's exactly what I thought about you when you showed up in Gotham a few years ago but did I say anything? No, so be nice to the cat. Now what am I going to name you?" The cat squirms a little bit then settles down in my arms and starts to breathe deep. "It's a calico, so I think I'll name it Colin. I think he'll be happy to have a little ginger friend." Damian snorts and starts looking through the DVDs again. He just might be growing on me.


	11. Chapter 11

Day 11 – Sickly

Word Count: 1696

"Did you just sneeze?" I shake my head, I just sniffled a little bit, it wasn't a full blown sneeze. "If you're sick again, I don't know what we're going to do today." My dad rubs his temples. I've gotten sick twice this December, once with a cold, and the other with a stomach flu.

"I'll be fine, we can have Christmas at the manor as planned. I'm not sick again." Well, I hope I'm not sick again. My immune system really needs to get its shit together because I would like to be healthy for at least one winter.

"Okay, if you're feeling fine then I'll take your word for it." He picks up one stack of presents for the manor and heads out the door after instructing me. "Clean up the stocking stuff and get your shoes on, then you can help me take the rest of the presents down to the car, okay?" I nod and start stacking the stuff we took out of our stockings – Mom left some stuff for me to put in Dad's stocking along with the items I found by myself. It's mostly food items because Dad likes to cook but there's a book on stupid stuff cops do to make him laugh, some candy, and an ornament I painted myself. We open all of our gifts at the Manor, including the ones that we got for each other because it's a more family thing to do or something.

I pull on my boots and grab my coat from the hook by the door and go over to close my laptop. We were supposed to do a video call with my mom because she couldn't be here for Christmas this year but it never came, I think she had something come up because she never forgets to call us when she's away.

As I'm about to close it, though, an incoming call pops up in the right corner. It's my mom, I open it up and settle down on the couch as the screen adjusts and I see my mom's face come into focus.

"Good morning, little one, or is it afternoon?" She sounds kind of sick, she doesn't look too good either. "I am sorry that I didn't call when I was supposed to, I have been very sick." My heart sinks to my feet so fast I'm afraid that it's going to fall out. She coughs lightly but it spurs a coughing attack that has her bent over and out of view of the camera, she finally comes up for air a minute or two later when my dad walks through the door.

"Mar'i why aren't you -" I make a shushing motion with my hand and he's quiet.

"Is that your father?" I nod at her and I can't help but wonder, how could she get so sick this fast? It's only been a week since she left Earth and she probably only just got to Tamaran three days ago. I wave my dad over and he sits next to me, trying not to show the surprise on his face. He assumed that she had gotten busy, too, and wasn't sure what to make of the sick woman on the screen opposite of him.

"Hey there, Star, how's it going on Tamaran?" She smiles at the old nickname and coughs a little bit more.

"It is alright, Kommand'r continues to be a good leader and she is taking care of me the best she can. She has a vast amount of medicines from across the galaxy and she's given me the best that she has." She continues to smile, albeit weakly. "I just called to tell you that I am sick and that is the reason I didn't call at the time we set. I'm sorry, my loves." I nod and my dad slips his arm around my shoulders.

"It's alright, Star, we were just on our way to Bruce's to open some gifts. We thought you were just busy with some diplomatic stuff." He smiles at her. It's the kind of secret smile they share when they talk to each other softly so no one can hear them. It's cute. It makes me want to have something like that.

"You should get on your way, then, I will talk to you later." She coughs some more and we say goodbye and sign off.

"Your mom's gonna be fine, Mar'i, just help me down the steps with the last stack of presents." I nod and close the laptop and on a second thought I shove it into the case that I left beside the couch and throw it over my shoulder, just in case my mom calls again, and I grab some of the presents from my dad's arms and lock the door behind us.

"I know that she'll be fine but it's still a little worrying that she's this sick. She never gets sick like that." He shrugs and puts the presents in the car – thank god he locked it before coming back up the stairs – and shuts the back hatch.

"Correction: she's never been sick like this in your memory. She was actually pretty sick the first year she was on Earth and she was sick a few times when you were little." I squint a little bit.

"Why didn't you say anything about it when I was sick?" He shrugs at me.

"Well, it didn't seem relevant at the time because it wasn't really your immune system acting up. It was your body having trouble going through puberty because your DNA is a mix of two species." I shrug and sit down in the passenger's seat.

"You're right but it just seems like some information that I should have had, or the doctors should have had at least."

We start rolling down the street which is surprisingly empty because Christmas day is the day that Gotham is packed with people coming into the city for a day with their family or heading out of the city for the same reason. I shrug it off, we're at the manor in no time.

Tim and Steph help us carry the gifts inside and put them around the giant tree that Gramps got this year. I have no idea how he and Alfred decorated it unless they called Clark; if anything, Clark probably just stopped by with some cookies from Ma Kent and saw how much help Alfred needed and decorated the tree after he did all of the chores.

"Did Clark help Alfred this year?" I need to know.

"Yeah, he stopped by with some cookies and helped Alfred with what needed to be done around the house before he decorated the tree because he didn't want anyone to fall off of the ladder." Tim says. "It was really nice of him." The entire family loves Clark – me included – he's just so nice and he loves hanging out with all of us. Even Bruce, that says something about how tolerant the man is.

The day passes by pretty quick and there's Christmas carols playing in the background all the while. It's nice, especially when Alfred finally sits down with us. He insists on cooking all day and he likes playing Santa because he enjoys passing out the presents that he helped Bruce pick out. By the end, he's the only one with a pile of presents that are entirely untouched. Tim and Steph stand up and start to dance by the fire and my dad asks Babs to dance with him because Tim and Steph shouldn't be dancing alone. I'm sure Gramps wishes Selina was here so he could do the same. Jason just rolls his eyes at them and whispers something to Damian – it's probably rude because Gramps pushes him over and whispers something else to him.

While I'm watching Alfred open presents, a hand taps my shoulder, I turn and see Damian standing next to me. "My father said it would be appropriate if I asked you to dance, seeing as that is what almost everyone else is doing at this time." I raise my eyebrows.

"So, are you? Going to ask me, I mean." He rolls his eyes.

"I just did, did I not?" I shake my head and I can practically see the urge to call me a name flash across his eyes.

"No, you said that Gramps thought it would be a good idea to ask me to dance over there with you because everyone else is doing it." I see a muscle in his jaw twitch and decide that I should probably stop teasing him and sigh. "I'd love to dance, Damian." I grab his hand and practically drag him to the large fireplace at the end of the room.

He puts one hand on my waist and the other takes my hand and lifts it up. I shrug and set my left hand on his should and drift around with him. It's kind of nice not to be fighting or teasing him for once. I look over and see Alfred's delight at the new apron I got him and the slippers I know he's needed for a while and on the other end of the couch Jay and Gramps are arguing about something that's probably stupid. I lean my chin on Damian's shoulder while we drift around and I see Stephanie and Aunt Babs both give me a thumbs up. They probably think that Damian and I have something going on, which is the opposite of true.

But his hand is starting to slide from my waist to my back and pull me a little closer. He's so confusing but it feels nice. I keep dancing with Damian for at least another half hour. It's probably the quietest Christmas we've had in a while. There's no fighting at the dinner table, Jason doesn't bring up the time he slept with Damian's mom, and at the end of the night, I call my mom again.

It's a good night overall. But there's one thing niggling at the back of my mind, what am I starting to feel for Damian?


	12. Chapter 12

Day 12 – Sandstorm

Word Count: 834

I cover my mouth with my hand and try to get to one of the rebreathers that I keep with me in the utility belt that I'm glad my grandfather makes me carry around. There's dust everywhere but it isn't just dust, there's some sort of gas. Honestly, it could be a multitude of villains that let this loose but the top three contenders in my opinion are Ivy, Joker, and Crane. But no one around me is having laughing fits and the hysteria in the crowd isn't rising. It's the opposite actually, they're calming down, some are just laying down and going to sleep. Note to self, don't breathe through my nose right now.

My comm crackles and I can just barely hear Proxy telling me what's going on. From what I can hear, it sounds like Poison Ivy released some sort of gas into the downtown area – where my dad, Damian, and I happen to be tonight. I can't respond because I have the smaller rebreather in my mouth, I should have brought one of the bigger ones along, but I just didn't have the foresight this time.

I start walking through the haze with the gas stinging my eyes every step I take until a hand clad in dark fabric grabs my wrist and pulls me along with whoever's attached to it. I can't tell if it's my dad or Damian because it's so hard to see through the haze of dust and gas. I trip along until I'm practically thrown into an alleyway that's practically untouched. The hand dragging me along turns out to belong to my dad and he rips off his own, larger rebreather that covers his nose and mouth and shoves it at me after he takes mine out of my mouth.

"You need this one more than I do, don't even try arguing with me." I cross my arms and try not to pout. I want my dad to be safe and this is not safe. "I don't want you in Mercy West because you have a bad cough. Just help people get out of the danger zone, I'm sure that there's ambulances waiting to take people in." He shoves my rebreather into his mouth and is gone without even a glance back. I place the rebreather he gave me over my nose and mouth and head back into the fray and pick up the nearest person and put them over my shoulder in a fireman carry and jog towards the end of the street. I spy a few more people passed out on the ground and pick one up, then make a promise to myself to come back for them. Even though the brown dust and gas around me makes me feel like I'm being buried, something I'm deathly afraid of.

When I finally get to the open air, I lay the two bodies down on the asphalt of the street on their sides, just in case. I run back in and grab the people that I had seen before and run back out. I don't want to risk flying with more than one person in my arms. I like saving civilians, not seeing them go splat.

I run back twice more before I see that my dad and Damian got the last of them and Stephanie and Tim have been helping, too. How did I not run into them in the haze? I forget about the question soon enough and take the rebreather off finally and join my family off to the side while some EMTs and firemen take care of the victims. Steph tells me that they didn't find Ivy but that we saved everyone who was affected by it. I guess Jay, Huntress, and Gramps were all working the other side of downtown and got those people out safely with the help of Batwoman who appeared just in time.

Apparently, the gas didn't leak into any of the downtown buildings and Proxy doesn't know what it was for. I think it could have been a trial run for the gas and that she has something bigger planned for later. Or she just wanted to test its effectiveness.

Our group of heroes heads to the closest bunker and the other group heads to firewall where we all get changed and head home. Damian walks me out while my dad stays behind to talk to Steph and Tim about something.

"You did very well tonight," He looks mildly uncomfortable at giving a compliment but I appreciate it nonetheless. "You acted very much like Grayson, Mar'i, I mean – ugh, I meant that you acted like your father." He shakes his head, a little embarrassed.

"I understood you and thank you, for the compliment, I mean." His lips quirk up into a small smile. I think I understand what I'm starting to feel for him, it's friendship, but it's so unfamiliar between me and him that I didn't know what it was at first. It's nice.


End file.
